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卑しめる (いやしめる) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

卑いやしめる

い

や

し

め

る

Meanings

1

ichidan verb, transitive verb

despise; look down on; treat with contempt

Strongly negative verb for holding someone or something in contempt, treating them as inferior or worthless.

彼かれは他た人にんを卑いやしめるような態たい度どをとった。
He took an attitude of looking down on others.

貧まず

しい

人ひと

を

卑いや

しめ

て

は

いけ

ない

。

You must not despise the poor.

Written forms

卑いやしめるUsage69%
Standard kanji spelling.
いやしめるUsage19%
賤いやしめるUsage12%
Rare variant using the older kanji 賤.

Kanji

卑lowly, base, vile
賤despise, low-life, poverty

Similar words

見み下くだす
見下す is more common and neutral for 'looking down on' someone, while 卑しめる carries a stronger nuance of contempt and moral condemnation.
軽けい蔑べつする
軽蔑する is a common suru-verb for 'despise' or 'scorn'; 卑しめる is less frequent and sounds more literary or emphatic.

Etymology

Derived from the adjective 卑しい (いやしい, 'lowly, mean, greedy') with the verbalizing suffix める, meaning 'to treat as lowly'.